Competition in the Trans-Valley League this past week saw Escalon’s varsity volleyball girls put a pair of wins on the books.
They faced off first against Ripon, winning by a 25-22, 17-25, 25-18, 25-23 decision.
“Our passing was on so it made it easy for our offense to dominate at the net,” said head coach Teresa Williamson. “Hannah Boyd moved the ball around well.”
That movement allowed for some big kills nights, including 18 from Emily Vickers, 15 from Mandy Murphy and both Mya Beary and Melanie Smith with seven kills apiece.
“Ripon has great hitters so we knew we had to serve tough,” added Williamson. “We lost momentum in the second set. However, these girls didn’t let that bring them down. They refocused and won the next two sets to finish the match in four.”
Tess Cosby had 25 digs on the night and Katie Karp had nine. Along with the 15 kills, Murphy added six blocks, 12 digs and four aces. Vickers also had 10 digs, two aces and two blocks while Beary notched six digs and Smith added five blocks.
Boyd racked up 42 assists and had seven digs in the win.
On Wednesday, Sept. 25 it was a match against Livingston and this time the girls got the victory in straight sets, sweeping the Lady Wolves, 25-22, 25-14, 25-12.
Karp paced the effort with 14 digs while Cosby had 10 digs and three aces. Murphy was the team leader in kills with 13, Smith had an all-around outstanding game with five aces, four kills, four digs and three blocks. Beary had seven kills, four aces and two blocks and Boyd came away with 20 assists.
“The girls started slow in the first set, the found their momentum and finished strong the next two sets,” Williamson said.
For the junior varsity and freshman teams, each split their contests for the week. The JV girls started with a 15-25, 20-25 loss at Ripon and then bounced back with a win at Livingston. They won the Wednesday, Sept. 25 match 2-0, topping the host Lady Wolves 25-9, 25-19.
It was the same breakdown from the freshmen, losing to Ripon and defeating Livingston. At Ripon on Sept. 23, the freshmen fell 20-25, 20-25. They also came back strong on Wednesday, crafting a 25-14, 25-19 win on the road against Livingston.
